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Tornado warning sirens may be eliminated in Brush

City looking at more modern options and eliminating audible warnings

By Zach Schwindt

Fort Morgan Times

Posted:
08/14/2018 06:31:40 PM MDT

Updated:
08/14/2018 06:37:41 PM MDT

Notifying the public of dangerous weather, like Brush experienced on July 29, may no longer be in the form of tornado sirens blaring warnings throughout the city. Brush is looking at more modern warning systems and eliminating the outdated sirens. (Courtesy photo)

When it comes to alerting the public of tornadoes and severe weather, the city of Brush is looking to go out-with-the-old and in-with-the-new.

During a city council meeting on Monday night, the mayor and council discussed the idea of "moving towards newer technology" after citizens reported they could not hear the sirens during the July 29 tornado. It turns out that one siren, located at Bunker Hill near the Brush Golf Course, is not functioning properly and needs repair.

After analyzing the siren system around the city, the council realized that the city's entire tornado siren system is far out-of-date. The council also noted that due to technological advancements, the sirens may not be as effective as they were in the past.

Currently, the city has four sirens that sound when there is a tornado or severe weather threat. Some of those sirens have been maintained over the past few years, while some remain in the same condition as they were four decades ago.

"One thing that is important to note is that larger cities, such as Denver and Longmont, don't utilize the use of tornado sirens," Mayor Rick Bain said. "They rely more on television and cell phones. There is so much groundwork in those cities, it would be very expensive to install and maintain the sirens."

Council member Vicky Quinlin said that during the most recent tornado on July 29, she noticed five alerts before she heard the local tornado sirens.

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"Now that I think about it, I saw three warnings come across the TV and two warnings on my phone before I heard the sirens," she said. "Nowadays, most people have access to some sort of digital device that will notify them if there is a threat."

Multiple council members noted that they had reports from citizens that they were unable to hear the tornado sirens from their homes.

"I was doing some research this weekend and I learned that tornado sirens all across the country are used specifically to notify people who are outdoors," Bain said. "The sirens are not designed to notify those who are indoors, they are meant to notify those who are outdoors to go indoors so they can tune in to local media."

Acting Brush Chief of Police Corey Hardy said that updating a single siren with a modern siren will cost a base rate of $25,000. That price doesn't include installation or any other associated costs.

"When speaking with Wireless Advanced, our sirens were described as 'cold-war era,'" Hardy said. "It's the same siren system that has been used since I was a kid."

Hardy said that when doing a recent test of the sirens, they realized that a circuit board of the siren at Bunker Hill had sustained damage.

The city contacted Wireless Advanced Communications, a mobile radio distributor, and the company determined that the circuit board is "very outdated" and is no longer available on the market. Wireless Advanced will need to build an entirely new circuit board to repair the siren.

Hardy also mentioned that if there is a power failure, as there was in the July 29 tornado, the sirens will not work.

"With today's technology, we can give them real information about the weather on their television or cell phone as opposed to a simple siren," Hardy said. "We can give people details on the storm so they can either go downstairs during a tornado or upstairs during a flood."

The city said that they will continue to utilize the sirens as long as they are functioning, but they remain hesitant to invest heavily in the sirens as they're expensive and not as effective as they once were.

The council also said that it's important to train citizens how to use their electronic devices effectively so they can get access to weather reports.

No final decision was made and regular weekly testing of the siren system will continue as usual.

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